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Fratton Park

Fratton Park is the home stadium of Portsmouth F.C., and is situated in the English city-port of Portsmouth.

Description

The stadium currently has four stands, all seated. The pitch runs from east to west. The largest and most modern stand, at the ground's western end, is the Fratton End. Along either side of the pitch are the North and South stands, both of which are two-tiered. At the eastern end is the Milton End, by far the smallest stand. Formerly the only roofless stand in the Premier League, a roof was added for the 2007/08 season. This stand is shared between home and away supporters. The original entrance to the Fratton End is notable for its mock Tudor façade. Since the arrival of new owner Arcadi Gaydamak several renovations have been made to Fratton Park including improved dressing rooms, a roof over the Milton end and a big-screen above the police box between the North Stand and Milton End. Sponsorship has also been cancelled for the North Stand which now features "Fratton Park Portsmouth" and the club crest.

The stadium is served by Fratton railway station (about 10 minutes' walk away), which is located on the Portsmouth Direct Line.

History

The Main Stand was designed by renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, whose company also built an ornate pavilion (similar to Craven Cottage) complete with clocktower. However, these were mostly removed with the expansion of the ground. Fratton Park hosted a first-round football game in the 1948 Summer Olympics (one of only two grounds outside London, the other being the Goldstone Ground). It hosted one full England international match on 2 March 1903 against Wales and has also hosted some England U-21 internationals. Pompey were the first club to stage a Football League match under floodlights, in a February 22, 1956 match at Fratton Park, against Newcastle United.

Fratton Park is currently the football ground with the lowest maximum capacity in the Premier League.

Future development

The ground has been home to the club throughout its entire history and, despite a number of improvements over the years, the current facilities are showing signs of age and fall well below the standards being set by those other clubs in the Premier League that have either built a new stadium or significantly redeveloped existing facilities. Therefore at the end of the 2003/04 season, the club having consolidated its Premier League status, plans were developed to build a new stadium on the site of an adjacent disused rail-freight depot. These plans, which were supported by the City Council, would also have allowed a much needed increase in ground capacity, which it was claimed would be impossible to achieve on the current footprint because of the close proximity of residential housing.

Before work could begin, the plans were superseded by a new proposal to redevelop more or less on the existing site, but realigning the pitch 90 degrees to accommodate a larger capacity stadium, funded in part by a "Pompey Village" residential, hotel and retail project on the adjacent site. Work on the stadium was due to commence in the summer of 2006, and the first new stands were to be opening before the 2007/08 season.

Again, before work could begin the plans were dropped, with yet another proposal announced on April 25 2007 that would see a 36,000 capacity stadium on reclaimed mud flats close to Portsmouth Naval Base. These plans were ambitious and included creating a leisure village around the stadium, complete with 1500 waterfront apartments as well as restaurants and other facilities. The proposal for a new stadium was widely supported, although cautiously by many that were conscious that the waterfront location proposed in the outline plans would be surrounded on three sides, by the Naval Base, harbour itself and railway, thus leaving only one end for access by residents and supporters. Critics also pointed out that the mudflats the stadium was proposed to sit on was close to an area of Site of Special Scientific Interest, would be difficult to get to by road and had nowhere near the amount of car parking facilities needed for such an enterprise [Portsmouth is an Island, with road access by only three routes from the north, and the waterfront site was close to the south-west extremity of the island].

These plans were also dropped before work could begin. The club had undertaken consultation and there were a number of objectors to the proposal, no least about the problems that 36,000 fans would cause to the local travel infrastructure. The Royal Navy also said that the proposal would cause problems with the proposed introduction of their new super-size aircraft carriers.

Currently, the fourth set of plans proposes building the stadium and leisure/residential complex on Horsea Island. Again, this proposal has local support, but again, it suffers from less than ideal transport links. At the beginning of January 2008, the plans have not yet been formally submitted for planning approval, so it is unclear when the stadium might see the first game.